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By Melanie Tucker

melt@thedailytimes.com

The Blount County Historical Museum has a simple request for Blount County -- tell them about your family history and share your best tasting recipes.

The museum will then take all of that fascinating information and compile it into a book that will be treasured for years to come.

The book will be called "Tasting History -- Family Cooking in Blount County, Tennessee," and organizers are now requesting entries. Families do not have to be originally from Blount County nor do they have to take an extensive amount of time doing research, said Mary Gregory, cookbook chairman. She said the book can include humorous family stories or as much detail as you would like to include. The recipes can be ones handed down for generations or ones your family discovered recently.

Family photos are also being accepted. The histories, recipes and pictures can be placed on a CD but that is not required. Organizers will be able to scan photos and then return them.

'Everybody is important'

The hope of this cookbook committee is that lots of families will see this as a great opportunity to present interesting stories and give local cooks some delectable recipe options. "Everybody is important, and we want to include all of these families who may not have shared their stories before," Gregory said.

That committee includes Gregory, Daily Times food columnist Olivia Sipe, Gerrae Messer, Nelda Kidd, Dorothy Sutton and Lorene Smith. Recipes can be given to one of them or e-mailed to Olivia.Sipe@msn.com. Gregory can be reached at 256-1712.

There is no charge to submit items for the book, which will be published later next year. Every recipe submitted will be included in the cookbook.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for people to be included," Gregory said. "We will work with you and scan your photos. This will be like snapshots of Blount County today."

Proceeds will go to keep the nonprofit Blount County Historical Museum operational.